The Wayward Gifted - Broken Point (27 page)

“This is great,” Steuart said laughing.
“It’s so much fun to be back up here.”

“I’ve heard the two of you talk about
names,” Ceil said. “What are we going to name this one? Did I hear
Sam-Steuart
?”

“Yes, you did,” Steuart said.

“It’s okay with you if we give it our
names?” Sam asked.

“I like the name. I think it’s perfect.”

Steuart and Sam looked out the window towards
the river.

“That’s it,” Steuart said to his
sister.

Together they both said the name aloud
several times, “Sam-Steuart.”

There was a burst of snow over the
river—a white out.

Steuart turned towards Ceil. “Wow, the
snow’s coming down now. Look...” Ceil was gone. “Where did she go? Did you see
her leave?” Steuart asked his sister.

“No.”

“Why didn’t she tell us?”

“Maybe she forgot something and had to
run.”

The snow settled as quickly as it
began. Steuart and Sam continued looking at the river. “Ceil’s nice letting us
play here. I wonder why she never had any kids.”

Sam shrugged.

“Why would you build a tree house when
you don’t have children?”

“She said it was here when she moved
in.”

“Maybe, but that’s not what she said
first. I don’t know about some of the things she says.”

Sam shrugged again, “I do like having a
place to bring Ed. It’s nice to be able to talk without worrying about who’s
listening. I still have a million questions. Maybe this is a good time. Where's
Ed?”

“Oops, I left him at the house with
Trista.”

“Would you like for me to go back and
get them?”

“No, don’t worry about it. He’s probably
taking a nap.”

Looking out the window, Sam noticed a
bench on the side of the river. “Did you see that earlier?”

“Huh? No, I’ve never seen it before. Where’s
our house?”

Sam let out a big sigh. Steuart
continued looking out the window. They looked at one another and smiled. “It’s
hard to see from here when there’s so much snow.”

The children continued looking, “Steuart,
we have a tree house. It has our name. This is so much fun.” Sam’s smile turned
to frown, “I just wish Trista were well.”

“We won’t give up. We’ll continue
looking until we find someone who can help.”

“Are you sure-as-Matt?” Sam asked.

Twice again the children said the
phrase together, “Sure-as-Matt. Sure-as-Matt.” The snow and the wind picked up.

“How would you like some furniture in
here?” Ceil asked. “Now that we have that basket I think we could pull up a few
chairs and a little table.”

Sam and Steuart looked at one another,
“Where did you come from?” Steuart quizzed Ceil.

“The stork brought me.”

“No, not that,” Steuart rolled his
eyes. “Where did you go?”

“What do you mean? I haven’t gone
anywhere.”

The children exchanged glances.

“This is weird,” Sam said.

“It’s getting a lot colder,” Ceil said.
“Anyone care for another cup of hot tea by the fire?”

* * *

“You
were gone,” Steuart insisted. “Ceil, I’m not playing with you. One minute we
were all in the tree house and the next minute, you weren’t there. Where did
you go? You disappeared.”

“I didn’t go anywhere. All I can say is
that you were excited and completely immersed in the moment. I’m certain that’s
what happened.”

Steuart shook his head and pursed his
lips. “I don’t know. I looked and I didn’t see you.”

After enjoying tea and a few minutes by
the fire, Sam asked Ceil, “Is it okay if we go back to the tree house for more
playtime?”

“I’ll ask Roger to walk with you and help
Steuart use the lift. When Steuart’s ready to come down you can walk up and get
Roger or me. Please do not try to do it without us.”

Walking towards the tree house Steuart asked,
“Sam, do you think Ceil’s confused like Della?”

“No, not at all. We all forget things
from time to time.”

“What do you mean? I don’t forget
things.”

“We just left Ed and Trista in the
kitchen for the second time today. What do you call that?”

“Should we go back?”

“No. This won’t take long. I’d like to
try an experiment.”

Roger helped Steuart into the basket
and hoisted him up. Once inside, Sam held the sign. “What were we doing just
before the white out?”

 
“We were saying our names. We said
Sam-Steuart, Sam-Steuart
. Why?”

“I have a suspicion.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I just want to try something. Let’s do
it again and see what happens.”

“Sam-Steuart,” They said the name
together once. The tree shook just a bit. Nothing else happened.

“Oh well,” Sam said.

“What were you expecting?”

“Nothing really. Not expecting, just
hoping. I thought I figured things out.” Sam shrugged her shoulders. “I’m
disappointed.”

“I’m bored. Let’s go back to the house.
Better than that, how about a quick ride downtown? I’d like to say hello to Mr.
Felphul.”

“Good idea. I don’t think we need their
help. I can do this by myself.”

The process was a bit challenging, but
Sam was able to work the pulleys successfully. At the bottom of the tree house,
Steuart exited the basket and removed his sling.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t need that stupid thing.”

“What are you talking about? Of course,
you need it.”

“I don’t,” Steuart shook his head. “My
arm’s okay. Look, I don’t need it.”

“Don’t be stupid. You have to wear it
until the doctor tells you it’s okay to stop using it.”

“Look,” Steuart waved his arm with no
difficulty. “My arm is fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“...as Matt,” Steuart smiled.

“Mother will be have a fit if you’re
injured again. I’m getting tired of having her angry with me all the time.”

“Seriously, I’m
sure-as-Matt
.”

“Where’s my bike?” Sam asked. “I left
it here.”

“No, you didn’t. We left it at the
house. Remember?”

“Oh, yeah. Would you rather ride or
walk?”

“We can get the bike when we come
back,” Steuart moved his arm about. “This is great. Mother’s going to be amazed
that my arm is okay.”

“She’ll probably make you wear the
sling until you see the doctor.”

“I hope not.”

Walking into town Steuart suggested
stopping at their favorite coffee and sweet shop—Franklins.

“I don’t have much money,” Sam said.

“Every time we come downtown things
look different. I’m turned around.”

“It’s just the snow, that’s all. We’ve
had so much snow this week.”

“Do you see Franklins?” In its place
stood Kinnflars Florist.

“We’re on the wrong street,” Sam
pointed to a sign. “Franklin’s is on Ashley.”

They walked one street over and then
two more streets before walking another two blocks. Sam stopped and looked in
the opposite direction. “I’m completely turned around.” She stopped a woman on
the street and asked for directions.

“Oh, dear. I’m sorry. I don’t know that
street. What are you looking for?”

“Franklin Sweets and Coffee.”

“I’m sorry dear, I’ve never been there.
Bellamy has so many coffee houses. I have trouble keeping up with all of them.”

“Bellamy?”

“Of course,” the woman nodded. “Are you
okay? Are you lost?”

“No.” Sam shook her head. “We’re fine.
My brother and I just moved here a few months ago. We’re learning our way
around.”

“I see. Just remember the city is laid
out like a grid. It’s easy to get around once you do a little exploring. Are
you certain you don’t need help?”

“We’re fine,” Steuart said.

Sam nodded, “It’s okay. We can retrace
our steps.”

“Okay then. I hate to leave you, but I
need to move along. I have an appointment around the block and I’m already
fifteen minutes late. You children stay safe. Be careful. We’re expecting a lot
of snow this afternoon and tonight.”

“Steuart,” Sam looked at her brother.

“I know what you’re about to say.”

“We traveled.”

For several minutes, Sam and Steuart
stood in the snow and looked at the town. Sam felt the chill around her feet.
She finally broke the silence, “Let’s walk to Dr. Klesel’s office.”

“Good idea.”

Sam and Steuart passed several people
as they hiked through the snow. They walked through town, down the path, across
the bridge and over to the towers. They found two tall buildings, but these
buildings didn’t look like Dr. Klesel’s. They were older and maybe, not as
tall. The children walked in and looked at the front register. Dr. Klesel’s
name was missing. A guard asked if he could help. “We’re here to see Dr.
Klesel,” Steuart said.

“I don’t believe we have a resident by
that name.”

“Resident?” Sam asked.

“Yes.”

“What is this place?” Steuart asked.

“River Towers Retirement Community.”

“I see,” Steuart said. “Sam we need to
retrace our steps.”

“Are you lost?”

“No, sir,” Sam said. “We’re new in
town. We’re just exploring things and learning our way around.”

“You’ve chosen a heck of a day to be
out. This might not be the best time for you to be exploring. Bad weather’s
coming. You’d be wise to go home and save your exploring for another day.”

The children walked outside and decided
to go to their house. It wasn’t there. A vacant lot sat on the river.

“We should find a place to sit where we
can sort things out,” Steuart said.

“Let’s go back to town and sit in a
coffee shop.”

Along the way, Steuart stopped and read
a shop sign, “Davey Ellis—toys, games and stuffed animals.” He looked at
the window, “Oh my gosh, Sam, look.”

Sam stopped and stood speechless.
Steuart didn’t move. Sam moved in closer. Della Ivy’s doll stood in the back
corner of the window.

“Let’s go inside,” Sam said.

“No, let’s not. This is close enough.”

Sam looked at her brother, “I just had
a thought.”

“I’ll listen as long as it has nothing
to do with Della.”

“Not about Della. I’m thinking about
Trista.”

“I don’t know what more we can do.”

“I’d like to know where she came from.”
Sam reached into her backpack and pulled out a business card. It read
Trista Petrina, Works of Fine Art
. Sam
took a deep breath, “The address is on Halsey.”

“That’s where we were.”

“Can we go back? I’d like to see where
she worked.”

“I wish they were with us.”

Sam and Steuart walked to Halsey and
counted the numbers until reaching Trista’s studio. It was just above a local
restaurant. Sam reached for the exterior door, “It’s locked.”

“What did you expect? She’s not here.”
Steuart peered in through the glass door and looked at a stairway leading to
the second floor.

Sam let out a big sigh, “I was hoping
another artist might be here, maybe a friend of hers working in the same
studio. I thought we might be able to talk with someone and get some answers. I
wish we could go inside and see her studio. I wish we could see Trista.” Sam
began to cry.

“Me too.” Steuart put his arm around
his sister. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I still don’t understand
what happened. I should never have left her alone in my room.”

“It’s an awful thing, but there isn’t
anything we can do about it today. We need to go back to the tree house. It’s getting
dark. You know how upset Mother gets if we’re late coming home.”

SIXTEEN

“Get in the basket,” Sam said. “I’ll
pull you up.”

“I’m fine. I can climb.”

“Okay,” Sam sighed. “I wish Ed was with
us. He could explain what’s happening.

“We need a guide.”

“I wish Trista was here, too. I wish
she hadn’t gotten hurt. I’ll never understand what happened.” Sam climbed up
the steps and stood in the middle of the tree house. “Steuart, do you remember
what we were doing when we traveled?”